Wednesday, May 16, 2007

Social Security Card to be National ID?

Two proposals being floated around Capitol Hill call for the Social Security card to be updated with biometric information and for U.S. employers to be required to verify it with the Department of Homeland Security when hiring.

Scared yet? You should be. While everyone was off fighting the REAL ID battle, national identification proponents were sneaking in the back door, arguing that the Social Security card should be updated with the latest technology to prevent illegal immigrants from working.

Under the so-called Bonner Plan, citizens and resident aliens alike would have to obtain a new Social Security card containing their photograph, a barcode or magnetic stripe containing an encrypted signature verifiable through card readers provided by the Department of Homeland Security, and would have to present this card in order to obtain work. The plan provides that employers who fail to verify the card face fines, prison time, and would be billed for the cost of deporting any illegal aliens they may have hired.

Of course, they’re still claiming that the card wouldn’t be a national ID card. But if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it certainly isn’t a sheep.